Walk-in cooler apparatus



May 16, 1961 J. H. RAINWATER 2,984,085

WALK-IN COOLER APPARATUS Filed April 15, 19Go 2 sheets-sheet 1 www um mf|n||||||||u|||| Il IlIIIIIllIIIIllIIIlIIlllllllllllllllmmlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllnyVENToR Jada/.5' IZ mrwter ATTORNEYS WALK-IN COOLER APPARATUS FiledApril l5, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS United States Patent WALK-INCOOLER APPARATUS Julius H. Rainwater, Atlanta, Ga., assignor to TheWarren Company, Inc., Atlanta, Ga., a corporation of Georgia Filed Apr.15, 1960, Ser. No. 22,623

3 Claims. (Cl. 62-256) The present invention relates in general to theart of refrigeration, and more particularly to walk-in type displaycoolers having an open front refrigerated product display area and arearwardly disposed walk-in storage area.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a novel walk-incooler construction including a lforwardly disposed refrigerated displaysection having a plurality of product supporting shelves spacedvertically therein land an open front affording customer access to theproducts, together with a rearwardly spaced walk-in storage compartment,and air circulation and cooling means for circulating cooling aircontinuously through both the product display and storage areas.

Another object of the present invention is the pro vision of a walk-intype display cooler having a forwardly disposed open front productdisplay area and a rearwardly disposed walk-in storage area, wherein anovel arrangement of vertically disposed, product supporting shelves isprovided in the product display area and novel refrigerated aircirculating means are provided to cause air flow to envelope allsides/of the product in the display area.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a walk-intype display cooler having a forwardly disposed, open front productdisplay area andv a rearwardly disposed walk-in storage area, whereinmeans are provided for forming a curtain of refrigerated air verticallyalong the open front of the cooler and for circulating refrigerlated airforwardly and rearwardly of 'product display shelves in the display areain proper proportion to obtain substantially even temperatures at alllevels.

Another object of the present invention is the provision o-f a novelwalk-in type display cooler having a forwardly disposed, open frontproduct display area and a rearwardly disposed walk-in storage area, andmeans for providing Ia closed loop refrigerated air circulation path inthe cooler extending through both the product display and storage areas,wherein a standard size cooling coil may be used in the walk-in storagearea.

Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following detail description, taken inconjunction with the ac companying drawings illustrating one preferredembodi. ment of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view of a walk-in type display coolerconstructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the cooler; and

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse section view of the cooler.

Referring to the drawings wherein like reference char- 'acters designatecorresponding parts throughout the several figures, there is illustratedin the accompanying drawings a single section walk-in cooler unit,indicated generally by the reference character 10. It will be understoodJthat the basic section of the cooler unit is designed Patented May 16,1961 so as Yto `allow installation of a group of such sections arrangedin end-toend relation in long continuous lineups to adapt the cooler toa wide variety of installation conditions. The cooler unit 10 includes abottom 11, a top 12, front and rear walls 13 and 14, respectively, andend walls 15 and 16 forming a rectangular enclosure. An intermediatepartition, indicated generally by the reference character 17, dividesthe interior of the cooler into a forwardly disposed product displayarea 18 and a rearwardly disposed Walk-in storage area 19. The productdisplay area 18 is of the open front type, a large access opening 20being provided in the front wall 13 of the cooler, and contains aplurality of vertically spaced shelves, three of which are illustratedin the drawing and indicated by the reference characters 21, 22 and 23,disposed rearwardly of the front access opening 20.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the front access opening20 may be forty-eight inches high and the lower front wall portion 24lying below the access opening 20 may be about twenty-tive and a halfinches high, and constitute the front wall of an upwardly opening lowerproduct compartment 25 lying between the lower front wall portion 24 andthe intermediate partition 17. Sheet metal panel members spaced inwardlyfrom the inner surface of the lower front wall portion 24 and above thebottom 11 of the cooler define a return air chamber 26 having a verticalleg 27 extending downwardly from an inlet grille 28 immediatelyrearwardly of the top of the lower front wall portion 24 and arearwardly extending horizontal leg 29. The rear end of the horizontalleg 29 of the return air chamber communicates with a low pressure plenumchamber 30 formed in the lower portion of the intermediate partition1'7, which in turn communicates with the storage compartment 19 throughan opening 31, forced air return to the storage area 19 being providedby the fan 32. Adjustable product supporting racks 33 are supported insuitable apertures providedin the sheet metal panels bounding the lowerproduct compartment 25 and defining the vertical air return leg 27 andthe plenum chamber 30.

An insulated ceiling 34 is positioned at the top of the product displayarea 18 substantially at the level of the upper edge of the accessopening 20, and is provided with air supply openings or air nozzles 35and 36 immediately adjacent the front and rear of the product displayarea 18. Sliding insulated doors 37 are provided in the intermediatepartition 17 extending substantialy from the level of the ceiling 34downwardly to a level below the top of the lower product compartment 25to provide access for restocking the shelves 21, 22 and 23 from thewalk-in storage area 19, the rear edges of the shelves being spacedselected distances from the door 37 to provide air passages 21a, 22a and23ay therebetween. An air supply chamber 38 is provided above thedisplay area oeiling 34 and communicates with air in the upper region ofthe walk-in storage area 19 through an opening 39 in the intermediatepartition 17.

A fan 40 draws air from the storage area 19 through the opening 39 andpropels the air toward a cooling coil 41 disposed in the air supplychamber 38, the air being diffused by the baffle 42 disposed between thefan 40 and cooling coil 41. The air then liows through the cooling coil41 and divides into two paths to pass downwardly through the air supplyopenings 35 and 36 at the front and rear edges of the display areaceiling 34. The refrigerated air flowing downwardly through the forwardair supply opening 35 liows substantially along the vertical pathindicated by the arrows 43 to the inlet grille 28 of the air returnchamber 26, defining in effect a vertical refrigerated air curtainimmediately inwardly of the front access opening 20.

The refrigerated air which is directed through the rear air supplyopening 36 in the display area ceiling 34 flows in a unique path toenvelop all sides of the product zone and maintain substantially eventemperatures at all levels in the display area 1S. Some of therefrigerated air discharged through the rear air supply opening 36 flowsalong a forwardly inclined path over the uppermost product display shelf21 and co-mingles with the air owing along the path 43 from the airsupply opening 35. The other part of the refrigerated air dischargedfrom the rear air supply opening 36 flows directly downwardly along theinsulated sliding doors 37 through the opening 21a provided between therear edge of the upper product display shelf 21 and the doors 37, andagain divides into a forwardly inclining path extending forwardlyacrossthe intermediate display shelf 22 and a generally vertical path downwardthrough the opening 22a between the rear edge of the shelf 22 and thedoors 37. The refrigerated air passing through the opening 22a dividesin like manner, a portion extending forwardly across the shelf 23 andthe other part passing through the opening 23a at the rear of the shelf23 and into the lower product compartment 25.

It will be noted from the drawing that the openings 21a, 22a and 23a areof progressively diminishing sizes to properly proportion the air flowacross each shelf. In one preferred example, the width of the opening21a from the doors 37 to the rear edge of the shelf 21 is three inches,the width of the opening 22a is two inches and the width of the opening23a is one inch.

It will be noted that, in the preferred embodiment herein illustrated,lamps 44 are located adjacent the upper end of the access opening v toilluminate the product on display. Additionally, anti-condensationheaters 4S are located around the air supply opening 35 to eliminatecondensation. An awning 46 is provided on the front wall 13 immediatelyabove the access opening 20. The awning 46 serves not only as adecorative piece, but also to retard air currents from the store fromblowing into the refrigerated zone through the access opening 20. Theawning 46 is not a necessity lfor satisfactory operation, but ishelpful.

A cooling coil 47 is also provided for the walk-in storage area 19, thiscooling coil being located in the preferred embodiment on the top '12near the rear wall 14. Because of the particular division andconfiguration herein above described, the cooling coil 47 may be of thesize normally used for the size of walk-in cooler it is applied to anddoes not have to be oversized when used with the front opening displayportion.

While but one preferred example of the present invention has beenparticularly shown and described, it is apparent that variousmodifications may be made therein within the spirit and scope of theinvention, and it is desired, therefore, that only such limitations beplaced on the invention as are imposed by the prior art and set forth inthe appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A walk-in cooler unit comprising an enclosure having front and rearwalls and a top and bottom, vertical partition means extending theheight of the enclosure intermediate said front and rear walls dividingthe enclosure into a forwardly disposed display section and a rearwardlydisposed walk-in storage section, a ceiling and a bottom in said displaysection spaced from the top and bottom of the cooler unit, respectively,defining a product display compartment therebetween, a plurality ofproduct supporting shelves spaced vertically in said displaycompartment, door means in said intermediate partition providing accessfor restocking said shelves from said storage section, said `front wallhaving an access opening therein extending over the major portion of thefront wall affording customer access to said display compartment, meansfor circulating air from said storage section through vsaid displaycompartment and returning the same to said storage section including anair supply chamber above said ceiling having cooling coil means therein,and air return chamber extending below the bottom of said displaycompartment and upwardly along the front wall and terminating in an airreturn opening immediately below the lower edge of said access opening,means for drawing air from said storage section into said air supplychamber and propelling the same through said cooling coil means, saidceiling having front and rear air supply openings disposed to direct airpassing through said cooling coil means downwardly in planes lyingwithin said display section and adjacent said front wall andintermediate partition means, means for drawing air from said displaycompartment through said air return opening intoy said air returnchamber and discharging the same into said storage section, meansdirecting the air discharged through the front air supply opening ofsaid ceiling downwardly in a substantially vertical path to the airreturn opening to form an air barrier traversing and located directlyinwardly of said access opening, and each of said shelves being spacedforwardly of said intermediate partition means selected distancesproviding openings for passage of a selected portion of the airdischarged downwardly through said rear air supply opening between saidshelves and said intermediate partition means to regulate distributionof cooled air throughout said storage compartment. h 2. A walk-in coolerunit comprising an enclosure having front and rear walls and a top andbottom, vertical partition means extending the height of the enclosureintermediate said front and rear walls dividing the enclosure into aforwardly disposed display section and a rearwardly disposed walk-instorage section, a ceiling and a bottom in said display section spacedfrom the top and bottom of the cooler unit, respectively, defining aproduct display compartment therebetween, a plurality of productsupporting shelves spaced vertically in said display compartment, doormeans in said intermediate partition providing access `for restockingsaid shelves from said storage section, said front wall having an accessopening therein extending over the major portion of the front wallaffording customer access to said display compartment, means forming anair supply chamber between said ceiling and the top of the enclosure,cooling coil means in said air supply chamber, said ceiling having frontand rear air supply openings disposed adjacent said front wall and saidintermediate partition means, respectively, air circulating means fordrawing air from said storage section into said air supply chamber andthrough said cooling coil means, and discharging refrigerated airvertically downward through said front air supply opening in asubstantially vertical path forming an air barrier traversing saidaccess opening in said front wall and discharging air downwardly throughsaid rear air supply opening onto the uppermost of said shelves, therearmost edge of each of said shelves being spaced forwardly of saidintermediate partition means a selected width providing openings forpassage of a selected proportion of the air discharged through said rearair supply opening downwardly behind said shelves to maintainsubstantially even temperatures throughout said storage compartment, andair return means including an air return opening adjacent said frontwall immediately below said access opening and a return air chamberbetween the bottom of said display compartment and the bottom of saidenclosure communicating with said storage section for returningrefrigerated air to said storage section.

3. A walk-in cooler unit comprising an enclosure having front and rearwalls and a top and bottom, vertical partition means extending theheight of the enclosure intermediate said front and rear walls dividingthe enclosure into a forwardly disposed display section and a rearwardlydisposed walk-in storage section, a ceiling and a bottom in said displaysection spaced from the top and lbottom `of the cooler unit,respectively, defining a l 5 t a i product display compartmenttherebetween, a plurality of product supporting shelves spacedvertically in said display compartment, door means in said intermediatepartition providing access for restocking said shelves from said storagesection, said front wall having an access opening therein extending overthe major portion of the front wall aiording customer access to saiddisplay compartment, said ceiling having a front cooled air dischargeopening adjacent and immediately inwardly of said front wall and a rearcooled air discharge opening immediately adjacent and forwardly of saidintermediate partition means, means forming an air supply chamber abovesaid ceiling communicating with said storage section and said airdischarge openings and having cooling coil means therein, -fan means fordrawing air from said storage section into said air supply chamber andpropelling the same through said cooling coil means and said dischargeopenings, means forming an air return chamber between the bottom of saiddisplay compartment and said enclosure having a vertical inlet legextending upwardly along the inner surface of said front wall and havingan air return opening extending the width of said access opening anddisposed immediately below the lower edge thereof, said air returnchamber having communication with said storage section and a fan fordrawing air through said air return opening into said air return chamberand discharging the same to said storage section, and means spacing therearmost edges of said shelves forwardly of said intermediate partitionmeans to provide air passages therebetween which progressively diminishin width at successively lower shelves for controlling distribution ofcooled air discharged downwardly along said intermediate partition meansfrom said rear discharge opening by passing a selected portion of thedownwardly discharged air through said passages and diverting theremainder of said air forwardly along the associated shelf.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,450,088 Henderson Sept. 28, 1948 2,890,573 Lamb June 16, 19592,923,137 Swanson Feb. 2, 1960

